I love snark and wit, but I’m not a fan of teenagers whose every utterance out of their mouth is snarky and witty. As Lenni and Margot leave their mark on one another, so too does this tearjerker of a book leave its mark on the reader. I loved the premise of this book ,but unfortunately the story fell a bit flat and I had trouble getting into the book. Inspired by David Copperfield, Kingsolver crafts a 21st-century coming-of-age story set in America’s hard-pressed rural South.

Apart from Father Arthur and Margot, they include New Nurse, Paul the Porter, Pippa and Sunny, the security guard, although there is one fly in the ointment in the unsympathetic character of Nurse Jacky. There are other characters that are also wonderfully described, the New Nurse, who befriends Lenni, sits on her bed and chats as though they are old friends. The growing friendship between Lenni and Margot is a thing of beauty, they are both wonderful in different ways. Lenni Pettersson is terminally ill and perceptive in the way of 17-year-olds who've experienced more trauma than most people their age. MY THOUGHTS: "Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.And as much as I love a great friendship story with loads of stories of a lifetime, it's not a book that I will probably remember, read again, or necessarily recommend. The story is told from Lenni’s point of view, except she tells us about The Temp from the third person point of view, and for some reason, it works.

If the mind is so powerful that it can kill a man with no illness and save a man who’s dying, I would never want to give my brain the opportunity to kill me by not believing that I might get better. In this moving debut novel, you will find characters with wisdom and heart who care about each other, trust each other. Lenni and Margo are surrounded by some great supporting actors – the hospital chaplain, the nurses and the gentle art teacher who always seems to know the right thing to say.We are in the back of hundreds of people's photographs - moving, talking, blurring into the background of a picture two strangers have framed on their living room mantelpiece. Lenni tells us staff are supposed to say “life-limiting” now instead of terminal – and anyway, terminal makes her think of an airport terminal.

Their bond is instant as they realize that together they have lived an astonishing one hundred years.She seemed so small that I wanted to scoop her up and lay her down in a pile of soft toys and cushions, and cover her in a warm blanket. I am a huge fan of the audio production of “The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot” by Marianne Cronin, narrated by Sheila Reid and Rebecca Benson. While the story comes down clearly on the side of all-encompassing love, Mallery has struck a careful balance: There is just enough sex to be spicy, just enough swearing to be naughty, and just enough heartbreak to avoid being cloying. She is very surprised when the young Lenni confidently marches into this octogenarian class and makes herself at home.